


Truth

by mechanical-scarecrow (WhimsicalWordWeaver)



Series: Blood in the Water [1]
Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: AU Vampire, BAU Team - Freeform, Blood, Hotch Angst, Hotch is Scared, Hotch is a Vampire, Hurt Hotch, Sad Hotch, Team as Family, Vampire!Hotch, Vampires, and love him anyway, fangs, of them all finding out, secret, they of course do find out
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-14
Updated: 2017-11-14
Packaged: 2019-02-02 13:12:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12727236
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WhimsicalWordWeaver/pseuds/mechanical-scarecrow
Summary: Hotch had a secret, everyone did.But if the team found out, they would never trust him again.





	Truth

Hotch groaned as he came back to awareness.  He was laying on cold concrete and his whole body was pulsing with pain. By his internal clock he could tell that it was the middle of the night. He slowly pushed himself up to his knees, blinking to try to get his vision clear. He felt as if his body was rolling, clouded over by a thick haze.

Oh. He could hear the heartbeats of the rest of his team. They were here too. He could smell them.

Hotch shook his head to try to clear it. He had to focus. He had to concentrate.

Ok, his vision was clear. Look around. Locate the team. Get everyone together, check for injuries, make a plan. Whatever this was, they could get through this. The room they were in was dark, but Hotch could tell that it was completely empty. Just four concrete walls, a roof, and a concrete floor. There were no windows and just one door.

The rest of the team was lying on the floor throughout the room. Everyone was here. Even Garcia. They were all still out. Hotch let his eyes slip shut as he concentrated on the heartbeats of the team. All strong. All alive. Thank God. Hotch pushed himself to his feet, stumbling as he settled back down on his own weight. The closest one was Morgan.

The drugs were still messing with his system, but Hotch was burning through it. It must have been a high dosage. Luckily, whoever did this used a lower dosage on his team, otherwise they would be dead.

Hotch froze as that thought processed. That meant that whoever did this... knew what he was. Hotch fought the panic rising in him. No one knew what he was. He kept it secret from everyone. He looked straight at the door, paranoia making him think that whoever did this was about to walk through the door.

His breath was coming in too fast. He needed to calm down.

He forced his gaze back on Morgan. He slowly walked toward the unconscious man. He collapsed down on his knees, reaching out to grab Morgan's shoulders. His strength wasn't fully returned but he shook Morgan's shoulders as best as he could.

It didn't work. Morgan stayed passed out cold.

Hotch sat back. He had no choice. He had to wait. Either for whoever did this to come by or for his team to wake up.

He couldn't just sit around and do nothing though. He had to do something. He had to bring the team in together. The drugs seemed to finally be wearing off enough that he had good motor control. The room was fairly large. Large enough that if anything happened Hotch couldn't guard all of them if something were to happen. He needed to bring them close. He pushed himself back onto his feet. He wasn't at full strength yet, but he should be able to lift his teammates no problem. He'll bring them all near Morgan, the position farthest from the door.

Reid was the next closest. Now that he was gaining his faculties back, Hotch worked quickly. Reid was easy to lift, being the lightest on the team, but he didn't even stir as Hotch laid him next to Morgan. Quickly, he followed with the rest, laying them all side by side, close to each other. He could protect them better like this. He sat down, sitting closest to Garcia. He kept his eyes on the door, ready to spring into action.

A sharp pain went through his midsection, burning up his throat, it was fast and it was over in an instant, but it had Hotch hunching over, arms pressing against his stomach. He grit his teeth against the pain as it flowed through him. It was bad. But he knew this pain. He knew what it meant. He knew how bad it would become.

Quickly, he shot away from his team, pressing his back to the wall farthest from them. The pain was already gone, but it would be back and it wouldn't leave. Give it a day, maybe two, and he wouldn't have any control. He was close to hyperventilating now, but he had no clue how to calm himself down.

The door opened.

Light flooded into the room and Hotch had to cover his eyes from the brightness. When he finally adjusted to the new lighting, he saw that the door hadn't actually opened. Instead a window had been slid up, just high enough for Hotch to make out the upper half of a man. The man was in a coat so large it hid the build of his body and a mask covering his face. Hotch quickly stood and put himself between the man and his team.

The man laughed, "Aw, you want to protect them. Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt them."

"And why should I trust you?" Hotch was shaking with the restraint of containing himself, but he couldn't attack. Not yet. Not while the team was still unconscious.

"I give you my word. I'm not going to hurt them. You are."

"What?" Fear flooded his mind, but he couldn't let it show.

The guy laughed again, "Like you don't know. You're going to stay in this room until you're so hungry. Until it feels like you're burning from the inside out from the thirst, and  you are going to lose control and you are going to drain them dry."

Hotch was shaking as ice cold fear dripped down his spine. "You... you know?" He cursed himself inwardly for the slip in composure.

"What you are?" A bark of laughter now, "Oh, I know. And I'm going to enjoy watching you deteriorate until you are just a mindless bloodsucker and kill your friends. Then, when you're sated and you've realized what you done, I'm going to watch your mind break and starve you again."

Hotch could only stand there, mouth agape. He knew it was true too. He knew it would happen. He could resist as hard as he could, but he knew himself. He knew he would break. It would only be a matter of time.

The man slapped his hands against the door, creating a loud noise echoing throughout the room, and Hotch just reacted. He fell into a defensive position, crouched low, hands out like claws. His nails were sharp points and he bared his teeth at the man. He could feel his fangs digging into his lower lip and he made a hissing sound that he hadn't made in a long time.

The man made a fake cooing sound, "You better get control of yourself. The drugs will wear off in your friends in about five minutes.  You don't want them to see you like this when they wake up. Oh, and, before I go, they're going to want to read this." The man took an unsealed envelope from his pocket and dropped it on the floor.

Then he was gone.

Hotch couldn't move. He just stood there, staring at where the man had just been. His legs gave out from underneath him and he collapsed. His knees hit the concrete with a loud crash, but he couldn't feel it.

Oh God, he was going to kill his friends.

"Nngh," It was JJ. JJ was stirring. Hotch turned toward the team immediately. Their heartbeats were picking up.

Hotch raised a hand to his mouth, tracing his fangs with his index finger. He usually only let them out when he was feeding. He let his eyes slip shut as he concentrated. He needed to gain control. He needed to appear human again.

"Hotch?" JJ's voice was slurred. He checked one last time, but his fangs were hidden. He turned toward JJ, trying his best to hide the fear coursing through him.

"JJ. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Dizzy." She blinked a few times, "It's dark in here." Right. Hotch made a note, he would have to act like he couldn't see as well as he did.

"Where are we?"

Before Hotch could answer the others started stirring. As they started to wake, Hotch could feel the panic starting to coarse through him again. His breath was coming in fast and all he could think about was that in a few days time he would be tearing into his friends'... no his family's throats. He was already starting to feel thirsty.

"-tch? Hotch!" It was Morgan. Hotch snapped back into the present and he tried to get his breathing under control.

He cleared his throat, "Yes?"

Morgan was giving him a concerned look, actually they all were, but Morgan was the one that spoke, "You good?"

Hotch gave a single nod, "Yea."

Prentiss was shaking her head to clear it, "Ok, so where are we?"

"Well, we were drugged." Reid said, "By why bring us all into one room? Why not separate us?"

Hotch was proud of them, waking up to find themselves kidnapped, but not letting that stop them.

"It's personal," Rossi said, "They want to show us something. Tell us something."

"But what?" Garcia asked. Hotch was especially proud of her. Garcia, the purest of them all, not trained to be out the field. Not to be in this situation. Hotch could tell that she was barely holding herself together, but she was doing it. She was being so strong. "How did they even manage to get all of us?"

"Let's worry about that later," Morgan said, keeping his voice calm, "Right now, let's figure out why we're here. What it is that we're supposed to do."

"What's that?" Reid said, pointing to the letter.

Hotch couldn't say that the man who did this talked to him. They would ask about what they talked about, and Hotch couldn't think of anything to say. JJ crawled her way over to the letter, she scanned it quickly.

That's when Hotch smelled it. The blood.

The letter was written in blood.

He took in a stuttering gasp and then quickly stopped himself breathing. He couldn't let himself smell it. The others quickly glanced at them, but they were too busy paying attention to JJ to really acknowledge it.

"Well, it's vague, but I know what the unsub wants." JJ read the letter aloud, "You can't leave until you all know the truth. It's written in blood."

"The truth," Rossi said, "What does that mean."

"Like JJ said it's very vague," Reid speculated, "Almost overly so."

"Which means?" Garcia prompted.

"It can mean a couple of things," Prentiss answered, "The Unsub will come to us later to give us more information. This is the most typical pattern."

Rossi continued, "It could mean that they want us to solve a problem for them. There's some sort of question in their lives that they can't answer themselves. They somehow think that we are the ones to provide that answer."

"Or, we already have all the information we need to know this truth. They just want us to acknowledge it." Morgan said.

Hotch swallowed.

"Hotch," Rossi said, "Are you ok? You haven't spoken."

"I'm fine," Hotch answered. "The drugs haven't worked their way out of my system yet." JJ made her way back, bringing the letter with her. Hotch tensed as the blood came closer. He didn't know why he was reacting like this. He had better control than this. He could handle the bloodiest of crime scenes without even the tiniest slip of control.

"Everyone check your pockets," Hotch said, taking control again, he needed to be the leader that they needed him to be. "Look to see if anything was left."

They all did, except for Garcia who didn't have pockets in her dress.

"I still have all of my things." Reid said.

"They took our guns, but left any other weapons," Rossi said, pulling out a pocket knife.

"I have mine as well," Morgan said. In fact they all did, and soon they had a pile of supplies in the center of the circle they arranged themselves in.

"We were all drugged at once," JJ said, "And then all brought here together. That sounds like the work of more than one person."

"It must have been that coffee shop," Garcia said, talking slow as she was piecing together her memories. "Remember guys, we all went to that coffee shop after landing back in the states. Just a little pick me up for us to finish the drive home."

"We were the only ones in there."

"It was in the drinks."

"So... they were waiting for us."

"Which means they knew that we would be there."

"How could they have known what coffee shop we were going to go to? Or that we were going to a coffee shop at all."

Hotch licked his lips, it was starting to click, "We always do. Every time we come back from overseas and ride commercial we always stop at a coffee shop."

"They've been watching us for a long time. They knew our patterns."

"Still the odds that we would enter the one coffee shop that they had set up for this?"

"We're missing something."

"Could that be the truth they want us to figure out?" Garcia asked.

"Possibly," Reid answered, "Although, based on the fact that we are all here together in one room, makes it seem like this truth is probably personal. It affects one of us. Or all of us." 

"We're not going to get anywhere without more information." Rossi said.

"So what does that mean?"

"We'll have to wait until the guys who did this comes to us. Until then, everything is speculation. We need more facts."

"Ok, everybody spread out," Hotch said, "Check the walls, see if there's any cameras or microphones. We also need to inspect that door."

"So we're dealing with a group large enough and organized enough to take all of us. They want us to figure out this truth. Whatever it is."

"Why blood?"

Hotch had admittedly been looking at the blood on the letter for awhile now, ever since JJ brought it close. He glanced up, Reid was looking at him a bit oddly, but the young man continued, "Why was the note written in blood? I mean, what's the point?"

"To scare us?" JJ said.

"Mmm, probably not. They're not doing this to scare us. Otherwise there would be more of a sign of that. More contact. More scare tactics. No, this is specifically about the truth. They want us to figure out what the truth is without outright telling us."

"So everything is a hint."

Hotch silently cursed how good his team was, only about 10 minutes in and they were making Hotch nervous. He knew he could keep control of himself. He just had to make sure to keep his secret safe. The rest of the FBI had to be looking for them, or at least they will be once none of them show up for work in the morning.  They would find them. He just had to last that long.

They all pushed themselves to the feet, spreading out equally throughout the perimeter of the room. Immediately there were all scanning the walls, running their fingers over the concrete to try to detect anything. Hotch was the one that was covering the door.

He ran his fingers along the frame, but felt and saw nothing out of the ordinary. The window that the UnSub had used was unable to be open from their side. Hotch could not pry it open. He tried the handle, because of course if he didn't that's when the door would be unlocked, and Hotch couldn't live with that kind of embarrassment.

Just as he turned the knob, the window flew open. Hotch jumped back and the rest of the team gathered around him. There he was, and Hotch involuntary snarled at him, but he quickly regained control of his reaction.

Somehow, even with the mask, Hotch could tell that this man was smirking at him.

"I'm sure you are all wondering why exactly you are here," the man said, "and I assure you that you have all of the answers in that room. But I understand that it's difficult to concentrate on an empty stomach."

Hotch flinched.

"So I brought you some breakfast." The criminal pushed a tray through the window and it clattered to the ground. All of the food was in plastic containers.

"I'm sorry, Hotch. I know this isn't your favorite breakfast. But you'll have to make due."

With a laugh he was gone. The window slammed shut and the room was plunged into darkness.

"Let's check out what he brought. There could be a clue in them."

Hotch grabbed the food and the teams circled around. He placed it on the floor in the middle of their circle. They opened up the package and the scent of pancakes and sausage filled the air.

"It's from McDonald's." Prentiss said.

"Is it poisoned?" Garcia asked.

"No," Morgan said, "If it were it would defeat the entire purpose of us finding out the truth if they were to kill us. This is a clue in some way."

"There's a note in here." Reid said, pulling a piece of paper  out from between the pancakes. He opened it, "'I want you to believe... to believe in things that you cannot.'"

"What's that quote from?"

"Bram Stoker's Dracula," Reid answered, "I'm not sure the connection."

"Well, our first clue is blood, our second clue is Dracula." Prentiss said, "The obvious connection is vampires."

"Could it be a group of vampirists? We've had run-ins with them before."

"Hmmm," Rossi answered, "Vampirists tend to more ritualized. They like to make big spectacles about what they do. It helps cement the idea in their mind that they are actually vampires."

 "I don't understand that mentality," JJ said, "How can people actually think that vampires are real?"

Hotch tried his best not to react. It wasn't often that they had to deal with the vampirist, but everytime that they did Hotch always had a nervous bubble in the pit of his stomach.

"The mind works in mysterious ways," Reid said, "People believing in vampires isn't the weirdest thing that we've ever seen."

"Can you imagine what it would be like though," JJ said, "If vampires were real?"

"We'd have a lot more to worry about than just serial killers." Rossi said, "But this is a discussion for a later time. Right now, let's focus on getting out."

Hotch involuntarily flinched at their words. Vampires being worse than serial killers? He tried to be better than that. God, he could never let them find out what he was. They would hate him immediately.

"There was another clue in our breakfast," Morgan said, "He talked directly to Hotch."

"You're right," Prentiss realized, "He said that you wouldn't like this breakfast."

"Which is weird," Garcia said, "I've seen you eat these things before. You seemed to like them then."

"I do like pancakes and sausage," Hotch admitted, and he did, even though it didn't help his hunger at all. He liked the flavor and it helped him to keep up appearances.

"So then why did he say that?"

"As a clue it doesn't seem very helpful at all. And completely unrelated to the other two."

Hotch prayed that they wouldn't make the connection.

"Anyway," Prentiss said, "It looks like we've gathered all of the clues from this."

"Go ahead and eat guys," Hotch said, "They don't want to kill us, at least not until after we figure this out. You'll need your strength."

They all silently began to eat, Hotch taking a few pieces of sausage to appease him. Although it did nothing to make him feel any better. If anything it made him realize how empty he actually felt.

Hours passed and they all kept circling around the conversation with vampires, blood, and breakfast food. Hotch tried his best to make it look like he was giving it his all, that he didn't know anything more than they did, but the pain was just growing and growing. The hunger... the thirst... it was becoming too much. It was occupying all of his thoughts. Blood was all he could think about.

By his internal clock he could tell that the sun was at its highest point in the sky, noon. That makes it slightly over 2 days since he last fed. He needed blood every day.

"Hotch, are you ok?" Garcia asked.

"I'm fine," Hotch nodded, and then tried to stand up. He was going to take a lap around the room to help clear his mind. However, once he got on his feet, they collapsed from under him. He fell to his knees, the pain spiking exponentially. He hunched over, pressing his forehead to the cool concrete, hands pressed against his stomach. He groaned.

Garcia, being the closest, was the first to react. "Hotch? Oh my God, Hotch!" She ran over to him, "Guys, I think he might be sick." She touched him, trying to help him to sit up, but she was too close . Her blood was too close. He wanted it. He needed it.

Hotch flung himself backward, crawling back until his back hit the corner of a wall. He brought his knees close to his chest and tried to make himself as small as possible. His fangs were piercing in to his lower lip, causing him to bleed. He hastily slapped a hand over his mouth. Oh God, what was he going to do?

"Hotch?" They were all moving now, and they were going to come closer to him and Hotch couldn't let that happen.

"Get away from me!" Hotch practically screamed. He pushed himself further into the wall.

"Hotch, what's wrong?" Morgan yelled. They weren't coming closer, but Hotch knew it was only a matter of time. He couldn't kill them. He couldn't. He would die first.

Hotch took in a deep breath and then slammed his head back against the wall when he realized how much of a mistake that was. Their blood smelled so good. They all flinched at the sound of his skull hitting the concrete, but the pain was good. It distracted him. It helped him focus on keeping control.

"You just need to stay away from me. Arm yourselves. All of you take a knife." His words were lisped from his fangs and his voice was choked. He kept his eyes shut, he couldn't bear to look at the team.

"Hotch, just tell us what's wrong. We can help you!"

"You can't!" Hotch collapsed on himself, pressing his face into his knees. His hands gripped his hair. He started muttering to himself, "Stay away. Stay away. Stay away." It was a mantra.

God, how long could he last? Maybe another day. Maybe. Would they be found in time? But odds were that they wouldn't be.

"What the hell is going on?" JJ asked.

Their heart rates were up, the blood was coursing through their veins.

Morgan was crouched down low, slowly inching toward Hotch. Just like they were trained to rescue small children from hostage situations.

Hotch was begging now, without looking up, "Please stop."

"I can't do that Hotch. I care about you. I need to check on you. We need to make sure that you're ok."

His throat was killing him. All he could do was concentrate on the scent of blood. Morgan was so close. It would be so easy to take him down. To stab his fangs into the man's neck and swallow that first mouthful of delicious, addicting, warm blood. He hadn't had fresh blood in a very long time. It smelled so much better than the bagged, old version that he usually fed on.

"Morgan," his voice was different now, more compelling than usual, smoother, "You need to back away from me."

"I can't do that, man."

"Then you better be ready to kill me, Morgan."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"You're really starting to scare me, Hotch."

His nails were sharp again and he dug them into his legs. He had to keep control. Control, control, control. He had to keep it. He couldn't lose it.

"Why can't you tell us what's going on?"

"Hotch, we'll never figure anything out if we don't all communicate together, you know that."

Hotch was stuck in a grimace. They were all talking, all trying to help him. It was killing him. He kept his face hidden in his legs.

"Hotch," Reid muttered, it was soft, but Hotch could still hear it.

"Listen, Hotch, I'm going to get close to you ok? I'm going to come sit next to you."

"No."

"Bram Stoker," Reid was still muttering, "Vampires. Breakfast. Blood. Hotch. Oh. Oh my God."

"Alright, Hotch, I'll give you a countdown ok?"

Reid was look at him, Hotch could feel it. It was about to be over. "Hotch? That's impossible. You can't be..."

Hotch couldn't help it, keeping a hand clamped over his mouth, he met Reid's gaze. He was begging the younger man with his eyes to not say anything more. He could see it Reid accepted the truth. Then he could see the moment the fear flooded through them. His heart broke, but the pain of that was washed away by another wave of thirst.

He groaned and couldn't help but lick at his own blood that was pooling at the corner of his mouth.

The room was so tense. Everyone was staring at Hotch.

Morgan made to move to Hotch, but Reid stopped him, "Morgan, no, he's a vampire!"

Everyone froze. Morgan scoffed and stood, "Man, what the hell?"

Reid was shaking. He licked his lips and stumbled back a few steps. "I know it sounds crazy, but it's true. Hotch?"

Everyone turned to stare at him. The all looked so confused. They all looked so scared. Their hearts were pounding so fast.

"H-Hotch?" Garcia asked.

His whole world felt like it was falling apart. He moved his hand and put his arm back around his stomach.

"The Unsub wants to... starve me." Hotch said, and he could tell that the team was looking at his fangs.

There was a beat of silence. Then another. Then another. Then they reacted. Morgan moved to put himself directly in between Hotch and the rest. The others were putting as much distance as they could. Some were crying, and they all had fear in their eyes.

Hotch wanted to rip his heart out. He didn't need it anymore.

Morgan looked so very angry, "Starve you?"

"You've heard the stories. You know what I am. You know what I need." Hotch's voice was shaking and it was so, so dead, "And I need it."

"You're going to kill us?" JJ looked like she couldn't believe anything that was going on. Hotch couldn't blame her.

"No!" Hotch shouted. He wanted to be able to go to them, to convince them he wasn't a monster, but he couldn't, "I have control. I won't hurt you!"

"You said he was going to starve you," Morgan was pointing at him with a knife, "How long does it take until you're desperate."

Hotch couldn't lie, "I'm desperate now."

"Will you lose control?" Morgan was talking to him like a suspect. Like someone they would interrogate together.

Again Hotch couldn't lie, "Eventually. I will. And I will go after whoever is closest to me. Morgan, I need that to be you. You are the one that has the best chance of fighting me off."

"You don't think I would win though."

"No." Hotch was staring at all of them. They were all cowering away, "Which is why when we're fighting, Rossi will take one of the knives and stab me in the heart."

No one reacted, and Hotch could tell that they were all conflicted.

Morgan made a step towards Hotch, "What's to stop me from killing you now?"

"Nothing."

"Man, how could you not tell us?" Morgan was shaking, "That you're... You are..."

"A monster?" Hotch whispered, "Why would I? You react by wanting to kill me."

"You crave blood!" JJ said from where she was standing.

"I've craved blood longer than I've known any of you." Hotch answered, "Even Dave. I've been a vampire for a long time."

There was silence. Hotch took in a shaky breath and realized he was crying, "I wish I knew something to gain your trust. To make you understand that I'm not a monster. I am who I've been for a long time."

"You're going to try to kill us."

"Not by choice. Never by choice," Hotch wanted them to understand. He was the same. He cared for them. "Which is why you need to kill me when it comes time."

"Hotch," Garcia was crying and Hotch was so glad to hear his name. Good, pure Garcia, still trusted him. Still wanted to believe in him, "You can't ask us to..."

"Dave," Hotch pleaded, "Please. I don't want to be a monster."

Rossi took another second, but he nodded, "Ok."

"How much longer do you have?" Morgan asked. He seemed to have calmed down.

Hotch was glad that they were still talking to him. Although he knew that if they all even made it out of this, he would have to leave the team. They would never trust him again. They would always be afraid of him.

"Maybe a day. I need blood."

Talking was a good distraction, but the pain, the burn, was making itself known again. He grimaced.

"Does it hurt?" Garcia was still crying.

"Very much so. The worst pain I've ever experienced."

"You're protecting us... even though you're a..."

"Yes. Always."

Reid was spluttering, his entire scientific world flipped on its head, "You can't be a vampire! That's impossible."

"You see that's it's not," Rossi replied to him.

"I expected you all to react more... violently."

"You mean like me." Morgan said, he sounded ashamed.

"You're protecting the team," Hotch groaned out, he began scratching at his forearms, the pain helping his control. "Never apologize for that."

"You're part of the team too, Hotch," Morgan met his eyes, "I need to protect you too."

Hotch smiled, but it was only a smile on the surface, "Look at how you all react to me. You're scared. You're the only one who's not on the other side of the room. And that's because you wanted to kill me."

"Hotch..."

Hotch gasped and he arched. Hands scrambling to grab onto anything on the ground next to him. He keened, a long high note from the back of his throat. He needed blood. Now.  He raised his arm to his mouth and bit into his wrist. He swallowed long mouthfuls of his own blood. It didn't help, he needed human blood, but just having some kind of blood made him feel slightly better.

He was breathing heavy when he pulled his wrist away from his mouth. He licked the blood from the wrist . It tasted so wrong. But he needed something, anything, that kept him from going after friends.

"Oh my god," he heard one of them gasp, he couldn't tell which one it was.  He realized how he must look to them and he gave his arm one last lick before moving it away from sight.

"Sorry," he gasped.

"It's ok," Morgan said, "Does it help?"

"A little, but it's not right," Hotch said, "My blood isn't right. It's not what I need. It won't last for very long."

Reid moved closed, to sit down next to Morgan. He was shaking, and Hotch could practically smell the fear in his blood, but he was coming closer and that meant the world to Hotch right now.

Reid licked his lips, "Hotch?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"It's you?"

"It's me. I've always been me. I just didn't tell you guys about this part of me, but I haven't changed. I've always been like this since before you knew me."

"You're Hotch."

"Yes."

"And you're a member of the team."

Hotch closed his eyes for a moment before opening them up again, "Yes, if you will have me."

Reid took a moment to process everything. His brow was furrowed, "I still don't really understand." He was speaking slowly, trying to figure it out as he said it, "I don't know how you can exist Hotch. You defy a lot of things that I know to be true in the world. It's difficult accepting this."

"I know." Hotch didn't hold anything against them.

"Does... uh, does talking help?"

Hotch swallowed against the dryness of his throat, "Yes."

"Do you mind if I... ask some questions?"

"Of course." Hotch was glad for it actually. He expected a much worse reaction than the one that he received. It just goes to show that he should never underestimate his team. They would never cease to surprise him. So far, only Morgan and Reid were close to him. Everyone else was still pressed against the opposite wall. They were all holding knives. Good.

Reid licked his lips and then gave a small laugh. "I don't even know where to begin."

"You can ask anything you like."

"How long have you been... a vampire?"

Hotch smirked, and increased the pressure against his stomach. "I'm not a... normal vampire."

Rossi scoffed, pushing off from the wall to join Morgan and Reid, slowly the rest of them followed, looking at him like they couldn't understand what they were looking at.

Rossi sat down, "A normal vampire?"

Hotch gave his normal small smile, Rossi had a way of making him smile like that a lot, no matter the situation, "Yes, normal vampires. I'm... rare. Vampires are typically only born, and both parents have to be a vampire to produce a vampire offspring."

"So Jack?"

"Full-blooded human." Hotch said, he licked his lips, at least tried to, the fangs made it a bit difficult, "If we're not ... if you have to... Just make sure that Jack is taken care of ok? Don't let what I am distract you from how wonderful he is.'

Morgan still looked guilty, "Hotch, listen, we're all shocked. I reacted... poorly. I know... we know, that you would never hurt us."

Of course he would say that, Hotch thought. It was a classic move of someone who felt that they were trapped. That their lives were completely at the will of someone else. But Hotch accepted it. It was nice to hear. But he was a monster who drank blood, there was no way their words could be true.

"So," Reid brought the conversation back to the question, "Typical vampires are born. What are you?"

"Made." Hotch refused to really think about that day. "It's illegal in the vampire community to just Turn someone into a vampire. The one that made me ignored those rules."

"What's the difference between a made vampire and a born one?" Oh, now it was JJ asking questions. Did that mean that they wanted to understand him? That they were willing to accept him? No... he needed to squash that hope. It wasn't going to happen.

"A born vampire has better control of what they are. I need more blood. A lot more blood than a normal vampire. A lot more often as well. I was born human, my body's not meant for the life of a vampire. It's not meant to be... this. I need a lot more blood to stay stable. I was human first. Most vampires are never that. But someone took that away from me against my will."

That shook them. They weren't ready for that.

"Wh-what else?"

"Vampires aren't immortal, but they age much slower than humans. My age rate is somewhere in between."

"You can go in sunlight."

"Yes." Hotch had to close his eyes for a minute, talking was a good distraction, but it wouldn't help for very long. "When I need to feed, it can hurt me a bit worse than a sunburn. But normally, it won't bother me."

"Do you have super strength?"

"Yes," Hotch answered, "I don't try to use it very often."

"Could you run as fast the stories say."

"If I tried."

"This doesn't make any scientific sense!" Reid said, "You shouldn't exist."

"No..." Hotch agreed, "No, I shouldn't."

There was a beat of silence.

Hotch couldn't resist it anymore. He brought his arm back up to his mouth and licked at the blood. It didn't taste right. Slightly off. But what he wanted he couldn't have. This was better than nothing. He was about to lose it, he could feel it. "You'll need to kill me soon."

"Hotch," JJ started, but Rossi cut her off.

"You said you'd need a lot of blood," Rossi said, "You're not a normal vampire. You need more. A lot more."

"Yes."

"Enough to kill someone."

"Enough to kill two."

"But what about six?"

"What?"

"What if you take some from all of us?"

"No, that's too dangerous."

"Hotch."

"No! I could lose control. I might take too much."

"If it would save you..." Garcia started.

"I said no." God, they were stubborn. "I'm not risking any of you."

They were silent. They were all trading glances and Hotch tensed.

Rossi stood, "I refuse to let you die." And he took his knife and slashed the knife over his wrist.

"Dave-" Hotch said, and then slammed his hands over his mouth.

Rossi was walking closer to him. Hotch couldn't take his eyes off of the blood.

"You said you would lose control," Rossi said, "But look at how much control you have right now." Rossi knelt down right next to him and held out his arm, "Let us help you. I trust you."  Rossi grabbed one of Hotch's wrists with his free hand and gently pulled it away from his mouth. It was much easier than he expected. Hotch seemed frozen, totally fixated on the blood that was mere inches from his mouth. The man was shaking.

"I don't want..." Hotch whispered.

"It's ok," Rossi said and he pressed his bloody wrist to Hotch's mouth.

By instinct, Hotch licked the wound taking in a large mouthful of blood. Hotch groaned at the flavor. It was so good. His hands shot up to grab Rossi's arm and held it tight. He licked the wound a few more times before opening his mouth and bit down through Rossi's skin. The blood was warm and the best that Hotch had ever tasted.

Rossi made a noise, but Hotch didn't stop. He kept taking swallow after swallow of blood.

"Hotch."

He barely heard his name. It sounded so far away and behind a wall of fog.

"Hotch..."

Oh... he was taking too much. Hotch could feel Rossi weakening against him. But it was so good. But... Rossi was dying. With a gasp, Hotch pulled his fangs out of Rossi's skin. He licked the wound twice, to help encourage it to stop bleeding and heal.

He dropped Rossi's arm and sat back, gasping, he needed more and now that he had a taste, it was harder to keep control.

But then Prentiss was there, wrist bleeding and pressing against his lips. He didn't waste any time, he grabbed her arm and bit into it. Her blood was different, lighter, less robust. The pain was leaving and the blood tasted so good.

It was warm as it slid down his throat, making him feel full and connected. He groaned. He didn't want to let this feeling go. It was easier this time, to let go. He trusted his team. They didn't hate him. They weren't going to starve him.

No. That wasn't it, some small voice in the back of Hotch's mind whispered to him. They just didn't want to die. Hotch couldn't help but think. Once they were out, things would still change. They wouldn't trust him anymore. Once the shock was over, the fear would set in. They would want him gone or dead. Just away from them.

Prentiss was tugging her arm back, and Hotch let her go. Rossi had given him a lot, he needed to make sure to take less from everyone else.  

Garcia went last and Hotch was feeling blissfully full. The pain was gone. He no longer felt like he was going to lose control. He was himself again. Hotch swallowed one last mouthful of blood before letting Garcia go, he gave the wound two swipes of his tongue, before leaning back against the wall.

"How do you feel sweetie?" Garcia asked.

"Like myself," Hotch answered, "Thank you."

"Come here." And then Garcia pulled him from the wall and into her arms. She tucked his face into her chest and stroked his hair, "You're still my family. I don't care what you eat."

Hotch was shaking and he was ashamed to admit that a few tears slipped from his eyes.

"Oh honey," Garcia said.

"Thank you."

Maybe it would all be ok.

Hotch pulled away. He was covered in blood. "How are all of you feeling? I didn't... take too much, did I?"

"You took the most from Rossi," JJ said, "We're all fine. Maybe a bit woozy."

"We're fine." Morgan said, he was running his fingers over the freshly healed wound on his wrist.

"Thank you guys." Hotch said, "For everything."

"I'm sorry for how I reacted," Prentiss said, "You're Hotch... we should have trusted you."

"Your reaction is understandable." Hotch said, "I can't blame you."

"I'm still not fully sure I accept any of this." Reid said, "But whatever this is, Hotch you've never let us down before."

Hotch felt like he was going to start crying again. This whole ordeal putting his emotions through the ringer. He made it. He had fed, and his friends weren't dead. They beat this game. Never in a million years had Hotch thought that his teammates would actually let him feed from them. He felt wonderful, emotionally and physically, never mind the fact that they were still currently captured.

His team just proved to him that they can get through anything.

Hotch inclined his head in thanks, he didn't speak for fear of becoming much more visibly emotional than he had planned in front of his team. Instead he moved on, "You all should be feeling better relatively soon. My bite will encourage your body to produce blood at a faster rate."

"Good," Rossi said, holding a hand to his head. He seemed dizzy. Hotch felt a wave of guilt slam into him. He went over and sat next to his friend, enjoying the fact that Rossi didn't even flinch as he drew near.

"I'm sorry, Dave." Hotch whispered, the rest of the team, understanding that this was a semi-private conversation went on to continue trying to figure out exactly how to deal with their situation.

"Don't be," Rossi whispered back, "I trust you. I can't really blame you either, my blood must be like an aged wine."

Hotch chuckled, but didn't quite know what to say.

"Don't let guilt eat you up," Rossi said, "I would do it again in a heartbeat."

"Very interesting choice of words," Hotch said, smiling.

"I try." Rossi answered, a smile playing on his lips as well.

...

Hotch was feeling fantastic. Aside from the whole, being kidnapped and trapped in a room thing. Other than that he was feeling amazing. It had been so long since he had human blood, decades even. He had forgotten how wonderful it was.

He felt strong. He felt alert. He felt full. He felt as if he could do anything.

The team was gaining their strength back. The amount of blood that Hotch took wasn't very severe, but it made him glad to see that they were recovering well.

"We need to figure out a way to get out of here." Morgan said.

"The FBI is looking for us." Garcia said, "They have to be."

"They are," Prentiss agreed, "but will they find us? Before whoever has us wants to try something else?"

"And who knows when that'll be?" JJ said.

"Probably not long," Hotch answered, "He... wanted me to kill you. All of you. He'll check back soon. He probably didn't have a plan for you all being alive."

"That means we have surprise on our side. We can use that to our advantage."  

"Hotch, you keep saying he, as if this man was acting alone. Do you think we're only dealing with the one person?"

"I think it's a possibility. At the very least, that he's the only one in this building. If he did have help, I don't they're here anymore."

"What makes you say that?"

"When I spoke to the UnSub before you woke up, this all seemed overly emotional for him. As if it were personal."

"You think someone used that to convince him to do this?"

"I think it's a possibility."

"If it is one person we can escape easily."

"If it is a group, we could be walking into something we can't fight our way through."

"We need to be sure."

"How do we do that? There's no way he'll tell us anything."

Hotch bit his lip. It had been a long time, and he hated doing it, but... he could...

"I have a plan. No one's going to like it."

...

Hotch was nervous about what he had to do. He hadn't done it in a very long time. And he was nervous about doing it in front of the team. He hated this ability.

His ears pricked as he heard footsteps. "He's coming. You guys ready?"

They nodded and Hotch got into position.

The window opened and JJ started to scream.

"Oh my God! You have to let us out here! There's a monster in here."

Hotch had to keep himself still, but he wanted to flinch at those words.

"Oh, I know." The man said.

"He killed Morgan!" Prentiss yelled, "We found out the truth, now let us out!"

"We had no choice," Reid said, and he was very convincing with how scared he sounded, "We had to kill Hotch. He was going to kill us all. Oh my God, we killed Hotch."

"What?!?" That got the man angry and he opened the door. "You can't have killed him!"

Hotch struck, faster than anyone could track and slammed the guy to the wall. The man was struggling, but Hotch pinned the man to the wall with his body and then sank his fangs into his neck. The man stopped fighting and became pliant.

Personally, Hotch thought his blood didn't taste as good as any of his teammates, but he kept drinking for a few more swallows. Way more than he took from any of his team.

Hotch let him go and stepped back, allowing the man to collapse to the ground. Hotch grabbed the man and placed his hands on his temples, forcing them to lock eyes.

"Listen to me." Hotch could tell that his voice had changed, just like he had done earlier with Morgan, only much more intense. It was darker, smoother, much more compelling. Definitely not human. It was almost musical.

"Are you listening?"

The man had a glazed over look in his eyes, but he nodded.

"Are you paying attention to me?"

Again, the man nodded.

"And you want to make me happy right?" Hotch practically cooed. God, he hated this.

The man was breathing heavily, falling quite easily under the control Hotch was creating. He nodded vigorously.

"You want to please me right?"

The man nodded and raised his arms, wrapping them around Hotch's waist, "I do. I can please you." The man pushed against Hotch's back, but Hotch wouldn't let the man move him.

"Good," Hotch said, "So tell me. Are you working alone?"

"No."

Hotch hummed, "Who are you working for?"

The man shifted "I don't know. They approached me. They showed me the truth and they said that if I did it they would make me immortal too!"

They were either lying about that or they did actually have the power to do that, which meant they could be dealing with vampires.

"Why did you agree? When it meant the death of so many people?"

"Because of what you did to my sister!"

"What?"

"You were a lawyer. And you got her thrown in prison for the rest of her life. Do you know what happened to her in there?"

The man's anger was starting to push him through Hotch's control. Hotch sighed, he had always this power. He grabbed one of the man's hands and placed it on his own chest. The man's other hand slipped down to grip Hotch's waist.

"Calm down," Hotch instructed, "You're doing so well."

The man nodded, hand rubbing at Hotch's chest. Hotch tried not to react with the disgust that he felt.

"Why did they want to do this to us?"

"Not to all of you. Just you?"

"Why just me?"

The man shook his head, "I don't know. They didn't tell me."

"That's fine," Hotch reassured, "Are the others here?"

The man shook his head, "No. They didn't want to be here. It's just me."

Good, then they could all just leave, "Thank you. Now, go to sleep."

The man looked confused, "Sleep?"

"Yes. It'll make me very happy if you go to sleep."

Already the man's eyes were drooping. A few seconds later and he was unconscious. Hotch quickly stood up and moved as far away from the man as possible. He felt gross after using that power.

The team just stared at him.

"So that's..." Reid started, "That's... compulsion."

Hotch nodded, "Yes."

"Can you do that to anybody?"

The fear was back in them.

"Regular vampires can do it at any time." Hotch's voice was hoarse, "I can only do it immediately after I've fed. And I need to take quite a lot of blood."

"So you can't..."

"I would never do it on you guys. I promise."

"There's just so much that we need to learn about you Hotch," Prentiss said, "There's so much that we don't know."

Hotch swallowed against the guilt that was threatening to choke him, "I'm sorry."

They said nothing, and that send Hotch down with a spiraling sense of panic.

Rossi broke the tension, "We need to decide what we're going to do. What we're going to say when people are going to ask questions."

"We can't tell them why we were kidnapped." Reid said, "We can't tell them how we escaped."

"We need to make something up now," JJ said, "And all agree to stick to the story."

"You are all willing to lie to the FBI for me?" Hotch spoke barely above a whisper.

"Who knows what will happen to you if they find out what you really are."

That was all that was said on the matter.  Hotch shuddered at the thought of what would happen to him.

"Ok... let's start planning."

...

About five hours later they were ready. They were being kept less than 10 miles away from headquarters. They couldn't take a taxi due to all of the blood on all of them, especially Hotch. They had to get rid of Hotch's clothes. They would ask why he was covered in all of their blood.  Luckily, the man who was around the same size as Hotch, only slightly bigger. Hotch quickly changed shirts with the man, thankful for the fact that it was a button down, something that he would wear.

He kept his torso turned away from the team. He didn't want them to see his scars.

They made their way outside.

It was night now, something Hotch was grateful for. He didn't want to deal with the general public at the moment.

"Wait..." Prentiss said, once they were outside, "I know this road."

"We're still in Quantico." Reid said, "Only a few miles from headquarters."

"They didn't take us very far."

"There were a lot of us," Hotch said, "It would have been difficult taking us farther."

"This can't have been their end goal. They would have been found too easily once a search team really started looking for us."

Oh. Realization slammed into Hotch like a brick. "They were going to move. This place would have been found, but they would have only found your bodies."

"They were going to just take you."

"Which means. If they went to all of this trouble to get you. To break you. They might try again."

"That's something that can be dealt with later." Hotch said. Much later. "We have to get back to Headquarters."

"Let's go."

...

Strauss was standing there with her arms crossed in front of her chest. They had all been checked by medics. They were good to go. Now the hard part.

"Tell me again." She said. After they had checked out from the medics, they had stopped being treated like victims and instead like federal agents.

"We were drugged." Hotch said, "We often stop at the same coffee shop after coming home from a case."

"They managed to drug all of you and then to take you all?"

"We expect an organization was behind this." Prentiss said, "A team with enough manpower and order to pull this off."

"Ok." Strauss said slowly. Such an event was unlikely, but not impossible. "Continue."

"I woke up first," Hotch said, "We were in a room. Empty. Concrete."

"All of you together?"

"Yes."

"Did they reveal what they wanted?"

"They were a group of radical vampirists."

"People obsessed with vampires?"

"Not obsessed with. They believed that they were vampires."

"Why you? Why this team?"

"We've had run ins with vampirists before." JJ said, "This could be a sect of them, trying to get revenge."

"Their motives are currently unknown," Reid said, "We didn't exactly stay when we found our opportunity to leave."

"How did you escape exactly?"

Hotch licked his lips. This was the part they had to be careful about. It involved the biggest lie.

"Morgan took him down." Rossi said. "We managed to convince him to open the door."

"They left you alone with just one man?" Strauss said, "Why would they do that? That seems... risky. Too amateur for an organization that planned you're capture."

"We believe that this was just step one of a much larger plan." JJ said, "That they were planning on moving us soon. The door was never supposed to be open until they were ready."

"So you're saying... you got lucky?"

"We saw a weakness," Hotch said, "And we used it."

Strauss sighed and wiped a hand across her brow, "And the cuts on your wrist?"

Hotch lifted his wrist, he had used one of the knives to slice his own wrist to match the rest of the teams.

"Vampirists have an obsession with blood."

"And ritual," Reid piped up, "This must have been some sort of prep."

"We woke up  with these injuries," Prentiss said, "We believe it was a preparation for the next part of their plan."

Hotch's bite had encouraged all of the cuts to heal quickly, looking a few days into the healing process as opposed to the mere hours that it had actually experienced. Hotch healed quickly, showing the same amount of progress as the rest of the team. Their cuts looked like they've been healing for a few days now.

"I wonder if they were taking our blood to test it," Reid said, "To see who would be more suitable or to make sure that all of our blood was pure."

Strauss let them fall into silence as she stared at them. "This story you're telling is very hard to believe."

"I don't see why ma'am." Morgan responded, almost instantly, "It's the truth."

Another beat of silence.

"Fine." Strauss relented, "I'm just glad you all made it back safely. We're increasing security in order to ensure your safety, and this will be considered an ongoing case until your captors are caught. You've all already been cleared by medical and you've been given 3 days to recoup. Go home guys. Get some well deserved rest."

"Thank you, ma'am." Hotch said.

She left.

Hotch sighed and turned. He refused to meet his teammate's eyes. The shock must be wearing off by now. They must all be truly realizing what he truly is, and soon they will want him gone. He was dangerous.

He hurt them.

He licked his lips, "I'll have Strauss assign you a new leader. Morgan, I'm going to recommend it to be you. You've already proven yourself well at this job and I know you can do it again. I'll be out of the office by the time Strauss expects us back."

Again there was silence, but it was different silence from before. It was a stunned silence.

Garcia broke it, "S-sir?"

Ah. Maybe the shock hasn't worn of yet. That's ok. Hotch still needed to go. It was what was best for them. They would realize it eventually.

"I know you'll take care of everyone well," Hotch told Morgan.

"Why do you think you're going anywhere?" Morgan was frowning, and Hotch could see a bit of anger flaring up in his eyes.

"It's for the best. You'll all realize it soon."

"Like _hell_ we will-" Morgan started, but Rossi stopped him.

"Morgan, this isn't the place for this. There are people always listening here."

It was true. They couldn't be one hundred percent sure that they weren't currently being watched.

"Fine," Morgan acquiesced.

"Let's all go to my place." Rossi said, "We can talk freely there."

Hotch immediately protested, "Jack-"

"Is already sleeping," Rossi interrupted, "You can get him in the morning."

Hotch couldn't argue with that. He could have one last meeting with the team. It would be nice to have a proper goodbye. He was selfish enough to allow himself that.

"Let's go." He said.

...

The air in Rossi's home was filled with awkwardness. No one knew what to say. No one knew how to talk to each other about this.

Hotch stood with his arms hugging around his midsection.

"Let's just get into it," Hotch said, quietly.

"Alright," Morgan nodded, "Why do you think you're leaving."

"You'll want me to when you realize what I am. Truly realize. It's better this way."

"Newsflash, we fed you our blood! We know what you are. None of us are running away." Morgan was upset, and because of that, he was getting loud.

"You did what you had to do to survive," Hotch reasoned, "It was either that, or you all die."

"We did what we did because we love you!" Garcia couldn't hold herself back, "You were starving, Hotch. You were hurting. And we could help you so we did!"

"We reacted the way we did at first," it was Prentiss' turn now, "because we didn't even know vampires could even exist!"

"I'm not blaming you for how you reacted. You all reacted much better than I-" Hotch broke himself off.

Reid filled in his missing word, "Feared?"

Hotch said nothing, but his silence was more than answer enough.

"Hotch, why are you scared of us?"

He couldn't answer. Oh God, he couldn't. This was too much. He was too much. And a danger. He was such a danger to them.

"I'm not..."

"Don't lie," Reid said, "You know that we know if you do."

"I..."

"What did you think we would do?"

Hotch kept his mouth shut.

"Did you think we would be scared?"

_Yes._

"Hotch. I don't know what we have to say to get you to understand that we don't care that you're... that you're a..."

"Vampire," Garcia piped in.

"We're reeling, yes, Hotch," JJ said, "But not because we're afraid of you or because we don't trust you. Only because our definition of the world has just shifted drastically from what we've all known. "

"I'm dangerous-"

The team just wasn't letting Hotch finish any sentences.

"You were dangerous before, Hotch," Morgan said, "You've killed, you have weapons, you were dangerous to us all before too. We know the risk. And even if we don't quite completely understand what you are or what it means for you to be a vampire, we're not going anywhere. We are staying right here, on this team, with you, right where we all belong."

"We're not running away."  The look they were giving him was steely and determined.

Hotch could barely handle it, "I..."

"Hotch," Garcia said, and she was crying, "Trust us. We trust you. Trust yourself. You're not going to hurt us. We're not afraid of you."

She always did know what to say.

"I'm still not sure I truly understand how you're a vampire," Reid said, "I think we all don't know. But I know you're Hotch. And that's all that matters to me."

"To all of us," Morgan agreed on behalf of everyone.

"We're a team," JJ said, "And maybe one of us drinks blood to survive. That doesn't change the fact that we are a team."

"You hear us?"

Hotch couldn't keep arguing with them. He was too selfish to part with them and they were making it too nice to stay. "I hear you."

"You're not going to leave us?" Garcia asked, hands clasped beneath her chin.

"I won't." He couldn't leave them. They were his family.

Garcia squealed in her adorable Garcia way and hugged Hotch tightly. He blinked against it, still so very shocked that they still talked to him, much less hugged him and wanted him to stay in their lives.

"I do have one last very important question," Rossi said, "And then we can carry on celebrating."

"What is it?"

"Whose blood tastes better?"

 

**Author's Note:**

> There it is! Let me know what you think! 
> 
> Follow me on tumblr: the-sanity-of-insanity


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